


By Any Other Name

by PiningTsukkiEnthusiast



Series: UshiTen Week 2019 [3]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Autumn, Fluff, M/M, Nicknames, Oohira Reon/Yamagata Hayato - Freeform, Short & Sweet, Team Bonding, Ushiten Week, Wakatoshi Continues to be An Awkward Boy, and I actually love it, and some, autumn fun, barely any plot, fun dates, it's just fluff, just fluff, with some background
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-25
Updated: 2019-09-25
Packaged: 2020-10-28 11:09:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,318
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20777582
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PiningTsukkiEnthusiast/pseuds/PiningTsukkiEnthusiast
Summary: UshiTen Week, Day 3:Nicknames|Seasons|Scary Movies“Y’know, Wakatoshi-kun,” Tendou began, holding Wakatoshi’s hand while they walked through the park, “since we’ve been dating a few weeks now, I think I should come up with a nickname for you!”Wakatoshi hummed. “If you want to.”Or, Tendou and Ushijima give each other nicknames.





	By Any Other Name

**Author's Note:**

> Ya boi back with the cheesy titles, I'm so sorry
> 
> Also uh kinda filled the scary movies prompt but only barely

“Y’know, Wakatoshi-kun,” Tendou began, holding Wakatoshi’s hand while they walked through the park, “since we’ve been dating a few weeks now, I think I should come up with a nickname for you!”

Wakatoshi hummed. “If you want to.”

“I do!” Tendou decided, an extra skip in his step. “Hmm…what about…Waka? Hmm, no, not really…”

Wakatoshi watched as Tendou’s face scrunched up in concentration, a soft smile tugging at his lips. How did he get such a cute boyfriend?

“Wakkun?” Tendou tested out, stopping to eye Wakatoshi for a reaction. “No, that’s not quite it, either…” Tendou pursed his lips, leaning closer to Wakatoshi’s face. “What about…Toshi!”

Tendou must’ve gotten the reaction he was looking for, because he stepped back and whooped.

“Toshi it is! Whadya think?”

Wakatoshi shrugged, though he could feel his smile widening. “It’s fine.”

“Y’know, you don’t have to give me one if you don’t wanna,” Tendou continued, swinging their hands between them. “I just like hearing you call me by my name, honestly!”

Wakatoshi frowned. He knew Tendou knew better than to be indirect or passive aggressive with him at all, but a part of him felt like he should be trying to give Tendou a nickname anyways. However, brainstorming aloud was never his strong suit…he’d have to give it time.

“I will take nicknames into consideration; it seems right that I give you one as well,” he resolved, squeezing Tendou’s hand.

Tendou seemed to perk up at that. “You will?!”

“Give me time to figure one out, but yes,” Wakatoshi promised.

“Ah! You’re so sweet, Wakatoshi-kun!” Tendou broke their hands apart so he could throw his arms around Wakatoshi’s neck and kiss his cheek. “I love, love, love you!”

Wakatoshi threw another sheet of paper in the recycle bin. None of these felt right. He just wasn’t much for giving people nicknames… It wasn’t like Tendou, who gave _everyone_ a nickname. But Wakatoshi _wanted_ to – not just because it was something he felt he should do, to be a good boyfriend, but because he liked the idea of calling Tendou something that was just…theirs. It seemed intimate, in a way, especially when so much of their friend group was already familiar enough for given names.

He’d been hoping to figure one out before their next date on Saturday, but it seemed that he’d overestimated his ability to come up with a nickname. Between schoolwork, overseeing volleyball practice, studying with Tendou, (kissing Tendou), he just didn’t have the time to dedicate to thinking this through.

It was already Thursday, and the only thing he knew was that he had no idea how to give someone a nickname.

Wakatoshi was pulled out of his thoughts by a quick knock followed by the door opening – Reon must’ve been back from whatever he was doing. He may have told Wakatoshi, but Wakatoshi couldn’t remember.

“Why is there so much paper in the recycle bin?” Reon asked, setting his bag on his bed.

Wakatoshi frowned. “It would be environmentally irresponsible to throw it away.”

Reon smiled kindly. “Why have you gone through so much paper, then?”

“I have been trying to come up with a nickname for Satori, but it’s proving to be more of a challenge than I expected,” Wakatoshi explained, gesturing to the sheet in front of him currently.

Reon hummed and leaned over Wakatoshi’s shoulder. “Like, a pet name?”

“Anything that is something only I call him.”

“Is this because Satori started calling you ‘Toshi’, because Wakatoshi-kun, you’re not obligated to give him a nickname as well, you know,” Reon reassured him.

“I am aware,” Wakatoshi sighed, “but I want to.”

Reon chuckled and ruffled Wakatoshi’s hair. “Okay. Well, I can’t offer much help, because I don’t call people nicknames often, but if you’d like to bounce ideas off of me, I’ll gladly be your sounding board.”

Wakatoshi tilted his head. “But you call Yamagata ‘Haya-chan’.”

Reon blushed and stuttered. “That’s _different_, Wakatoshi-kun.”

“Because he’s your boyfriend and it’s a name only you call him,” Wakatoshi filled in.

“Ha, okay, you’ve got me there,” Reon agreed. “I do get where you’re coming from. You shouldn’t put too much pressure on yourself, though, or else you’ll never figure it out.”

Wakatoshi hummed. “Thank you.”

“Of course.”

By their date on Saturday, Wakatoshi still had no nickname to give, but Tendou didn’t seem bothered.

“Okay, _so_,” Tendou began, clapping his hands together, “Since it was my turn to plan a date, I thought we could do something seasonally appropriate!”

“We’re already doing a haunted house next week,” Wakatoshi pointed out.

“Oh! No, not like that! I thought we could go to the festival downtown and maybe get some wagashi! And then we could look at the trees and maybe watch the sunset on the hill – you know, the fall colors are so much brighter this week than they were last week! What do you think?”

“That sounds lovely.”

“Amazing! Make sure you bring a jacket! I don’t know how chilly it’ll get this evening!”

Wakatoshi considered pointing out how thick his flannel was, but he knew that Tendou was right. While cuddling for warmth was a romantic idea, he expected the reality would be uncomfortable and disappointing.

“Okay.” Wakatoshi pulled his jacket off his desk chair. “I am ready if you are.”

Tendou beamed at him. “Ready as can be! I’m so excited!” Tendou held out his hand for Wakatoshi to take. “You know, I really like what we have going here, Toshi! The taking turns planning dates and the fact we never do anything too fancy so it’s just us hanging out – I like that! So many people make dating out to be so high-pressure, but I’m so comfortable with you.”

Wakatoshi smiled and squeezed Tendou’s hand. “I feel the same.”

He paused for a moment to take in his boyfriend. Tendou looked comfortable, yet not unfashionable, which was something unique that only he seemed to be able to pull off. He was wearing an oversized sweater with “Shiratorizawa Gauken” written on the sleeves, and…_oh_. Wakatoshi felt his cheeks warm. That was _his_ sweater, that he must have accidentally left after their Tuesday “study” session.

(On a separate note, they really needed to figure out how to study during their study sessions, because at this rate, they were going to fail all their classes and entrance exams.)

Tendou was wearing ripped skinny jeans as well, with what looked to be colorful, patterned patches sewn underneath each of the rips – something else only Tendou could pull off. It was unique and mismatched (yet never an eyesore) and Wakatoshi just loved him so much, but it felt like he would never adequately express those feelings.

“Whatcha thinkin’ about, Toshi?” Tendou asked, lightly squeezing Wakatoshi’s hand.

“That I love you,” Wakatoshi replied bluntly.

Tendou’s face lit up, mouth agape in slight surprise. “Oh. I – I love you too, you know!”

“I do,” Wakatoshi agreed.

“Well, good.” Tendou laughed and ran a hand through his hair. “If you didn’t know by now, I’m not sure I’d have any better way to spell it out for you.”

When they got to the stall selling wagashi, Tendou immediately lit up looking at everything. Wakatoshi didn’t care what they got and was content to share with Tendou, so instead, he watched his boyfriend look at their choices, happy as a child in a sweets shop.

“They’re all so cute,” Tendou lamented, “but we can’t get too many because I’m saving my weekly allowance for next week with the team…” Tendou pulled his bottom lip between his teeth, and Wakatoshi looked away, embarrassed at how closely his eyes followed the motion.

Tendou pointed out what he wanted, along with two cups of green tea, and they were on their way to find somewhere to sit.

“You know, I love the fall! It just has good energy, you know?”

Wakatoshi did not know, but he didn’t mind. He just hummed and nodded as Tendou continued.

“Everything looks so pretty, and the seasonal sweets are so good! And all the festivals, and the fresh foods, it’s really the best season!”

“I enjoy it as well,” Wakatoshi agreed, nodding to a bench nearby. “And I enjoy seeing you look excited every time we’ve gone out.”

Tendou blushed. “You’re going to kill me, Toshi!” he laughed. “Isn’t it nice, though, seeing all the people at festivals, looking happy and enjoying the season? It’s just cool enough to enjoy a warm drink, but warm enough that it’s not horrible and uncomfortable!”

Wakatoshi supposed that was true. In the midst of listening to Tendou talk, though, he couldn’t stop thinking about the nicknames. His stomach twisted in a good way whenever Tendou called him _Toshi_, but he still couldn’t think of what to call Tendou. But now wasn’t the right time to think about it. Because when Tendou spoke, Wakatoshi would always listen.

Tendou picked up another wagashi with his chopsticks. “Here, open, I think you’ll like this one.”

Wakatoshi did as he was asked, even though he’d never quite understood feeding one another as a romantic gesture. He supposed it wasn’t too bad, though, given that the sweet was tasty and it seemed to make Tendou happy.

“Good, right?” Tendou said before sipping his tea.

Wakatoshi hummed an affirmative, looking to see if there was another of the same design.

“Oh! I should tell you about the show I started last night!” And just like that, Tendou took over the conversation fully, and Wakatoshi watched him speak and gesture with fondness.

Tendou was right about how comfortable it was to be together.

Wakatoshi was content to walk beside Tendou while he stopped to take pictures of trees for reference to paint and draw later.

“It’s so pretty!” Tendou said, gesturing to the tree in front of them. “I’ve been wanting to test out watercolors as a medium, and I think this one has the perfect flow of color…”

Wakatoshi prepared himself to stop again, waiting for Tendou to take a few pictures from different angles. He considered pulling out his phone to take pictures of Tendou, but he wasn’t sure if that crossed some sort of boundary, so he figured it better to ask about that another time.

“Oh! It’s getting late! Come on; we’ve gotta hurry or we’ll miss the sunset!”

Wakatoshi let himself be pulled along to the spot on the hill where Tendou wanted to sit, smiling at Tendou’s laugh as they ran.

“Ah! Just in time!” Tendou pressed a quick peck to Wakatoshi’s cheek before pulling him to sit down. “I wish we’d grabbed more tea; I’m kinda cold!”

Wakatoshi thought about that for a moment: it was actually pretty mild, given the time of year, and between Tendou’s jacket and the sweater, he shouldn’t have been cold at all. Unless…_oh_. Right. That was a hint Wakatoshi could take.

He wrapped an arm around Tendou’s waist and pulled him close, hooking his chin over Tendou’s shoulder. From Tendou’s happy sigh, Wakatoshi figured he’d gotten it right.

“You guys didn’t save me a seat,” Yamagata complained, trying to find a spot to crowd onto Tendou’s bed.

“You can sit with me, Haya-chan,” Reon said, opening his arms to his boyfriend.

While the team shuffled and got comfortable, Wakatoshi leaned on Tendou’s shoulder, letting his eyes close for a few moments. While he valued the weekends that he and Tendou spent alone together, Wakatoshi certainly wasn’t complaining to be surrounded by their friends. This was the last Halloween-themed sleepover they’d have, crammed into Semi’s and Tendou’s bedroom to watch scary movies until they passed out.

He absently pressed a kiss to Tendou’s shoulder, pulling his boyfriend a little closer. The more they were together, the braver Wakatoshi got initiating physical contact. It still made him nervous, not knowing if Tendou wanted it, but Tendou assured him time and time again that he always wanted to be close. Wakatoshi trusted that Tendou would voice if he were ever uncomfortable.

When the movie began, Wakatoshi didn’t pay much attention. He wasn’t one for movies like these; he never found them interesting, and the concept of jump-scares as a plot point was beyond him. But his team always liked them, _Tendou_ always liked them, and that made them worth watching.

Every time Tendou jumped, Wakatoshi held him tighter, closer. There were bloodcurdling screams coming off the laptop that they were huddled around, but Wakatoshi felt warm and content.

As the movies ended, and their teammates started to fall asleep, Wakatoshi pressed a kiss to Tendou’s cheek.

“You’re cuddly tonight, Toshi,” Tendou noted, turning in Wakatoshi’s arms to face him.

Wakatoshi hummed and lifted his head. “I just like to be close to you.”

Tendou smiled as wide as he could beyond the sleepiness on his face. “I love you.”

“I love you too, ’Tori,” Wakatoshi mumbled, before falling asleep with his teammates.

“You gave me a nickname last night, Wakatoshi-kun!” Tendou said, handing Wakatoshi a mug of coffee the next morning.

Wakatoshi frowned. _Did I?_

“I don’t think you meant to, but you did! You called me ‘Tori’,” Tendou continued, beaming at him. “I think it’s cute.”

Wakatoshi considered it for a moment: _Tori_. It worked well enough, and seemed to make Tendou happy. Yeah, that would do.

“I can call you that, if you’d like,” Wakatoshi offered.

“I would love that,” Tendou agreed. “Oh, I’ve gotta do some homework today, wanna study together?”

“As long as we actually study,” Wakatoshi stipulated.

“We will,” Tendou said with a pout. “At some points.”

Wakatoshi shook his head and smiled. “That’s good enough, Tori.”

Tendou squealed and jumped up. “Say that again!”

“Hm? Tori?”

Tendou’s smile got impossibly wider. “Yeah. I think I like that a lot, Wakatoshi-kun!” He leaned forward to steal a coffee flavored kiss.

Wakatoshi thought that maybe he liked it, too.

**Author's Note:**

> bls validate me in the commetns
> 
> Follow me on [Twitter](https://www.twitter.com/lovingyachi) and scream with me about Haikyuu!! and other shit


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